State Board of Education Holds Off On Getting Courts Involved In Executive Session Dispute
The Oklahoma attorney general and the State Board of Education are at odds over allowing lawmakers into executive sessions.
The board skipped the executive session at its meeting Thursday and discussed the prospect of getting the courts involved.
Wednesday, Attorney General Gentner Drummond issued an opinion directing the board to allow lawmakers into executive sessions.
At Thursday’s meeting, the board took the unusual move of voting on agenda items that are usually first discussed in executive session.
Also on the agenda was a decision to take Drummond’s opinion to court. The board held off on taking action, saying it needed more time to digest the opinion. Member Sarah Lepak says she wants lawmakers to revisit the existing statute.
"I would encourage the legislature to take a look at the opinion and think about when the shoe is on the other foot, and your particular political interests may be aligned or different than whatever it is you perceive as going on, whether this is an opinion that is something you guys want to live with or not," Lepak said.
Drummond responded in a statement, saying while the board may not like the law, they must still follow it.
Update On New MPox Public Health Emergency
The World Health Organization has declared a different type of Mpox that has broken out in Africa a ‘public health emergency of international concern. '
Mpox is a rare illness that causes rashes, chills, swollen lymph nodes and fevers. It usually occurs in central and western Africa in animals like monkeys, squirrels and rats.
The disease mainly spreads between people through close contact and can occasionally spread by surfaces people with Mpox have touched.
Oklahoma reported 69 cases during a multi-country outbreak in 2022.
There have been 11 cases reported this year.
Although, the CDC has reported no cases of the different strain in the U.S.
The type of emergency declared by the World Health Organization is a response to diseases with a risk of cross-border spread that could require international coordination to prevent.
OKC Gets $2.2 Million In Federal Funds To Plan Bridge Improvements
Oklahoma City now has $2.2 million in federal funds to study fixes for more than a dozen aging bridges over creeks and rivers.
Six of the bridges are on the west side of town, where they cross Deep Fork Creek, the North Canadian River or one of the North Canadian’s tributaries.
OKC Public Works Director Debbie Miller said those bridges are crucial for the area’s large-scale manufacturing.
The other set of bridges spans Lightning Creek on the city’s southwest side.
Miller said this provides an opportunity to design bridges that catch trash and debris before the waterway carries it into the North Canadian downstream.
The money will allow the city to plan restorations or replacements before the bridges age into disrepair. It’s coming from the U.S. Department of Transportation as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Last month, the state received a separate $142 million federal grant to replace the Roosevelt Memorial Bridge that stretches over Lake Texoma in southern Oklahoma, after receiving a planning grant in 2022.
New FCC Alert To Help Locate Missing Indigenous Adults In Oklahoma
A new alert could soon be sounding off on your smart phone following a new FCC effort to help authorities find missing Indigenous people in Oklahoma.
Earlier this summer, many tribal nations in Oklahoma and around the country supported a new Federal Communications Commission alert that could aid in the Missing Murder Indigenous Peoples crisis or MMIP. The alert's goal: help find missing adults in the U.S. by issuing notifications via cellphones, radios, and TVs.
This month, the FCC unanimously approved the MEP alert, which could be a critical tool for Indian Country, as research from the FBI shows more than 3,000 Native American adults went missing last year.
The FCC alerts are similar to the state’s recently implemented Kasey alerts that went into effect last November.
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